


please, come back

by s_sasha



Series: sad stories out of three words [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Sorry, Mentioned Maddie Buckley, firefam is here but not really, like... twice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24004747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_sasha/pseuds/s_sasha
Summary: bobby looks closer at the body before him. there's a gash on his head, a bit of blood here and there, his eyes are closed, lips are blue. there's junk all over his body and bobby still can't refer to that body as buck because that can't be buck.his buck is still alive somewhere because he has to help everyone he comes across. his buck is still alive because he is a fighter.  his buck is still alive because bobby can't lose another son.au, in which buck gets christopher to safety and goes on to save everyone else
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash
Series: sad stories out of three words [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731166
Comments: 13
Kudos: 105





	please, come back

**Author's Note:**

> prompt phrase: "please, come back"

\- ladder 118, this is dispatch.

\- dispatch, this is captain of ladder 118 bobby nash. what do you have to say?

for all the times bobby has ever had to talk to dispatch, this is the first time he is afraid of it. he and his team is in the middle of tsunami and dispatch doesn't usually call to thank them for their services.

\- i have captain simmons of ladder 6 on the line. he really wants to talk to you.

bobby's heart stops for a second. he never saw captain simmons in person and the only possible reason he could contact him is if he found someone from bobby's team. bobby quickly does the headcount in his head: eddie should be at the va, chim is out there looking for something to transport the people with cabell, everyone else is with him.

\- yeah, put him through, - says bobby, trying not to worry about the only three firefighters that he doesn't have a visual on.

\- captain nash, this is captain simmons. we have someone here looking for your team. he's really desperate, wouldn't even let the paramedics touch him.

suddenly, bobby has an idea on who that might be. his heart stops one more time, but now it goes into an overdrive. before bobby can answer, there is a shout on the other side.

\- i want daddy!

and bobby remembers what eddie told them all at lunch – he left christopher with buck this morning.

\- says his name is christopher diaz, and that his father is working at your station.

\- is he alone? – is the only thing that bobby can think about.

\- uhm.. when we got to him there was another guy with him, but we didn't have enough place for everyone, and the guy said he would stay back, - and bobby isn't even surprised because that sounds _so like buck_. - when my guys went back he wasn't there anymore. people said he went on to help someone and didn't come back. you know him, captain?

\- yes, i do. – _that is my son_ goes unsaid. – where are you now?

\- we just got to the va, thought you would be here.

\- his father is there. i'll contact him to let him know.

bobby has to take a breath and he almost misses the _we'll wait at the entrance_ coming from the other captain.

\- eddie, come in, - he says to his radio, mentally preparing to tell his friend that his son was there when the tsunami hit.

\- cap? is something wrong?

\- there is someone waiting for you at the entrance to the va. he's with the ladder 6, - he decides to tell only this much. he tells himself that it's because he can't risk worrying eddie too much, but deep inside he knows that he simply wouldn't be able to say that.

\- uhm, okay?

\- and, eddie. you can go home.

\- thanks? but why? – eddie sounds worried. bobby knows that eddie is now thinking of every reason why he could want to go home. bobby knows eddie's thinking about christopher in that moment, because that's what parents do.

\- just… go home, eddie.

with that bobby turns back to see if chim came back yet. he sees mail trucks and mentally curses at the amount of paperwork he'll have to go through later. that keeps his mind occupied for a couple of minutes. but then it goes into parent mode and he can't stop thinking about buck. he was supposed to go to the movies with christopher, how did they even ended up there? bobby knew there was a really good cinema a lot closer to buck's place. buck took may and harry there a couple of times and they all loved it there. so why were they that close to the pier? and where is buck now?

he doesn't think it'll work, but he still takes out his phone and calls buck. just how he imagined, buck doesn’t answer. bobby tries to tell himself that there is nothing to worry about: if buck is somewhere out there, he probably had to swim a bit, and so his phone now is too wet to be working.

he thinks about asking the dispatch about buck but decides against it. buck wasn't on shift, he doesn't have his uniform on so no one would be able to identify him like that. also buck could name himself and ask for bobby or anyone else from 118 or even for maddie, but he didn't.

the last thought was supposed to make him worry less but actually makes him spiral even more. what if buck is unconscious and can't tell his name? or what if he hurt his head and doesn't remember it?

bobby finally gets out of his mind when they get to the va. he helps everyone else get out of the trucks. when everyone is out, he goes to look for something to do and sees lena. she's standing near a gurney. bobby comes closer and sees eddie and christopher. they look like christopher just fell asleep after everything he must've been through. the look on eddie's face is too familiar to bobby. he gets to them and eddie finally gets his eyes off of his son and looks up.

\- have you found him? – his voice is shaking and he hugs christopher even closer.

\- who?

\- buck.

\- no, - it kills bobby to say that, but there is nothing he can do with it. – has he told you what happened? you said they were going to the movies.

\- they were, - now there are tears in eddie's eyes. his voice is still shaking but now it's quiet, on the border of whispering. – but chris said he wanted to go to the pier. we all know buck can't say no to chris, - he chuckles darkly. – they were at the santa monica pier when the…

\- when the tsunami hit, - bobby continues for him.

\- yeah. chris says that after the first wave buck got him on the truck.

\- truck?

\- it was my team's truck, - lena says. – we were there too.

\- so they were on the truck, when they saw other people, - eddie goes on. – and buck, being buck, started helping them all. sometime later the guys from ladder 6 found them all on the truck. they couldn't get everyone on, and…

\- buck stayed back so that others could get away, - comes from behind bobby. he turns and sees both hen and chimney staying there. they are close to tears, but chimney finds the power in himself to go on. – there were people, they said they got saved by a guy who claimed to be a firefighter, with a birthmark near his eye. they said, he got everyone he could see on the truck, but when the water went back, someone fell and buck jumped right after them into the water.

chimney shakes his head, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like _that self-sacrificing idiot._ hen silently takes the place near eddie on the gurney.

\- we checked everything here. no one heard of him.

\- chim, did you call maddie? – asks bobby. no matter how hard it is to tell such news, maddie deserves to hear that.

chimney nods but stays silent.

christopher struggles in eddie's arms and cries out for buck. eddie hugs him even tighter, starting to whisper sweet nothings in spanish. whatever he's saying works and christopher calms down.

\- we'll keep looking. but you, - bobby looks at eddie, - you go home and take care of your son. he needs you, and buck needs us.

eddie nods and rearranges christopher in his arms.

the rest of the team goes back to the entrance of the va. bobby looks at the two other people standing with him.

\- you said you checked everything here, right?

\- even the morgue.

some of the weight disappears from bobby's chest. buck could still be alive. he _must_ still be alive.

bobby goes over to one of the nurses and asks her to contact him if buck appears at the va. they tell her how he looks, show the photo with chris. then bobby asks the dispatch to contact them if any of the teams come across buck. he gives the description too and dispatch repeats it for everyone to hear.

they stay back at the va for an hour, because people are only starting to come there from other points of regrouping. when they finally decide to go and look through the streets, bobby's radio comes to live.

\- captain nash?

\- this is captain nash. who am i speaking to?

hen and chim stay close to him. the worry is evident on their faces. it's the first time they are contacted and they don't even know if they want it to be real or not.

\- i am captain parker of ladder 23. i think we found your boy.

\- where are you, captain parker?

\- we'll be at the va in fifteen.

\- we'll see you here then.

bobby looks at his teammates, but no one holds the eye contact. no one says anything. they don't know what to say, so they wait in silence. when they see the 23 pulling up, all of them run to them. captain parker greets them and walks to where her firefighters are pulling a backboard from the truck they were in.

\- never in my life, did i want to be more wrong than now, - they hear her say and suddenly, bobby doesn't want to see who's lying on that backboard. he looks at hen and chim who stand behind him as if telling him to go first.

bobby walks up to the backboard and makes himself look down. the ground falls under his legs and he finds himself on his knees, looking at the too familiar face.

captain parker takes that as an answer.

\- we found him in this state. i'm sorry.

with that she leaves them.

bobby looks closer at the body before him. there's a gash on his head, a bit of blood here and there, his eyes are closed, lips are blue. there's junk all over his body and bobby still can't refer to that body as buck because _that can't be buck_.

his buck is still alive somewhere because he has to help everyone he comes across. his buck is still alive because he is a fighter. his buck is still alive because _bobby can't lose another son_.

he doesn't register what is going on around him.

the only thing he is focusing on is the pain of seeing his second son lying beneath him and not breathing.

bobby hugs buck close to his chest, not paying attention to the tears coming from his eyes.

\- you can't leave me like that. _you can't_. what did we talk about? no more trips to the hospital. – that should be the moment when buck opens his eyes and looks at bobby with that smirk of his and says something like _we are not in the hospital, dad_ , _just as i promised_. but he doesn't. his eyes stay closed, his lips don't move and there is no sound coming out of his mouth.

that is the moment when reality catches up with bobby.

\- **_please, come back_** , - he wails, breaking down completely.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr: @raider-of-the-lost-barks


End file.
